Nepal keeps its date with destiny

Defying the spectre of violence that killed nine people, frequent blasts and a shutdown called in the Terai plains, Nepal on April 10, 2008 kept its date with destiny, holding a unique election after nearly six decades of struggle and bloodshed for it. Octogenarian Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala led the 17.6 million voters, being one of the first to cast his vote for the historic constituent assembly election from his home town in Biratnagar in southern Nepal as polling opened at 7 am.

As soon as the over 20,000 polling booths opened in 240 constituencies in 75 districts, voters began queuing up to cast their ballot in an exercise that could spell doom for the nation`s centuries-old royal family and transform the Himalayan kingdom into a federal republic.